Executive Summary
As the Puget Sound region invests billions in a new light rail system, many stake­holders, including community leaders, workers, equity advocates and planners, are asking – who will benefit? Will the advantages of living along light rail be shared by households of all incomes and people of all races and ethnicities?
Transit oriented development (TOD), holds tremendous promise and opportunity for communities of color and low-income households. But, strong evidence of gentrification and the threat of displacement in Seattle’s Rainier Valley, accelerated by the light rail, threaten to undermine this promise. Rainier Valley represents one of the most racially diverse areas in the Puget Sound and is also one of the first communities to receive light rail.
Ensuring that TOD results in real equity outcomes requires a sharp focus on what equity means and a steady determination to achieve those outcomes. By includ­ing a racial justice framework in TOD planning and…

The purpose of this paper is to describe the potential economic benefits that could result from building and operating the regional high capacity transit system articulated in Destination 2030 and based on Sound Transit’s Regional Transit Long-Range Vision, adopted in 1996 (see Figure 1). Based on a review of studies of high capacity transit systems around the country, this paper describes the types and magnitude of economic benefits that could result from completing the high capacity transit system envisioned in Destination 2030 and Sound Transit’s long-range plan. Economic benefits in this paper are broadly defined to include benefits to employers, businesses, and residents that result from travel improvements, changes to the built environment, and enhancement of the natural environment. This description of potential economic benefits provides a useful framework for future benefit/cost analyses that will be conducted as part of Sound Transit phase 2 (ST2) decisions and the…